David Walliams tops children's bestsellers - BBC News BBC News David Walliams tops children's bestsellers 23 October 2014 Close share panel Image copyright PA Image caption Walliams' first book The Boy in the Dress is being made into a BBC drama David Walliams' Awful Auntie has become the best selling children's fiction book of 2014 after four weeks on sale. The comedian notched up his fourth week at the top of the UK book chart, marking the longest run at number one by a British-born author this year. The book sold 37,903 units this week. In contrast Booker Prize winner Richard Flanagan shifted 10,242 print units. However sales of his novel The Narrow Road to the Deep North increased by more than 30 times the previous week. It saw his Booker-winning romance enter the top 50 at number 11 - taking second place in the original fiction chart. Nielsen BookScan figures suggest the £137,430 accrued through sales of Flanagan's novel last week, following his Booker triumph, eclipsed the combined sales of his work for the past 10 years.

The "remarkable love story" novel is set during the construction of the Thailand-Burma Death Railway in World War Two. It took 12 years to complete and left Flanagan penniless. David Walliams has written seven children books, including Gangsta Granny, Mr Stink and Demon Dentist which topped the charts this time last year. Awful Auntie has sold more than 181,000 units since it was published on 27 September. David Walliams for PM? – The Sun DAVID Walliams is to play the Prime Minister in a new BBC film. But don’t worry, the comedian is not turning his hand to serious political drama – it is an adaptation of his children’s book, Mr Stink. The Britain’s Got Talent judge has written several children’s books, including The Boy in the Dress and Gangsta Granny. Mr Stink tells the story of a young schoolgirl who befriends a smelly homeless man and hides him in her family’s garden shed. The hour-long film is being made for BBC1 and will be shown at Christmas. David said: “I am beyond thrilled that BBC1 is adapting my children’s book Mr Stink into a family film.

I have written the script and can’t wait to see actors bring it to life. “I am so excited. It’s my best book and should make a fantastic Christmas film.” Mr Stink – first published in 2009 and illustrated by Quentin Blake – has sold 250,000 copies and was shortlisted for the Blue Peter best book of the decade award. BBC1 controller Danny Cohen described the family comedy drama as a “heart-warming, nose-clenching and funny tale which will appeal to viewers of all ages.” Kanye breaks down in interview with Zane He adds: "It's the first of a series called Russell Brand's Trickster Tales, where I do interpretations of fairy stories and folk tales, believing them to be the code to unlock aspects of our consciousness, and to affect and impact the way that we see the world. "Once we start changing the way children see the world… we can do all sorts of stuff." In the video, the actor and comedian shows pages from the book, along with pictures of rats and other illustrations drawn by Riddell.

I do interpretations of fairy stories and folk tales, believing them to be the code to unlock aspects of our consciousness Russell Brand According to The Bookseller, last month, it was announced that Century has signed a new non-fiction book from Brand, covering his views on ecology, rioting, and "the total mistrust of politicians". Brand released his autobiography My Booky Wook in 2007, selling 826,336 copies through Nielsen Bookscan. He also wrote a sequel, Booky Wook 2: This Time It's Personal. The YouTube video said that Russell Brand's Trickster Tales will be "coming this autumn" but does not announce a publisher. Image caption David Walliams' book Gangsta Granny was adapted for television by the BBC Brand is not the first comedian to write stories for children. David Walliams, star of Little Britain and judge on Britain's Got Talent, is also a best-selling author and has written books including Ratburger, Gangsta Granny and Mr Stink. Other stars with children's books to their names include Katie Price, Glee's Chris Colfer and Madonna.

Follow @BBCNewsbeat on Twitter Gangsta Granny « by admin under Authors and Illustrators , Awards and Prizes , Events , The World of Books The 29th Red House Children’s Book Award ceremony took place in London on Saturday and it was a wonderful way to round off the events at this year’s Imagine Children’s Festival . The shortlisted authors, publishers, members of the Federation of Children’s Book Groups and children from reading clubs up and down the UK met at the Queen Elizabeth Hall at Southbank for an afternoon of fun and surprises. Kids’ comedian James Campbell kicked off the day by calling the shortlisted authors on stage one-by-one where youngsters presented them with handmade portfolios which featured written work and drawings inspired by each of the shortlisted books, all done by the children themselves. A wonderful keepsake that the authors loved perusing and will serve as brilliant mementos of the day.

After a delightful meal of bite-size hamburgers, mini bangers and mash and finished with everyone’s favourite, jelly and ice cream served in jam jars and deliciously gooey double chocolate brownies, children were able to sift through their goodie bags, have their books signed by the authors and illustrators, and ask the best in the business exactly what it was like to have the best job in the world! More crowds then joined the celebrations for the main event – the awards! Children from Dulwich Stagecoach had prepared three montages to express the stories and feelings of the shortlisted books from each Red House Children’s Book Award categories. Starting with a very funny sketch telling the tales of the picture books; the immensely talented children transformed the stage into outer space, a bookshop, a haunted house and a perfect hiding place for Sassoon – all in the space of about two minutes and all without a prop in sight! Caryl Hart, Ed Eaves, Louise Yates, Andrew Weale, Lee Wildish and Sam Usher then took to the limelight to answer questions from James Campbell before Spooky, Spooky House was announced by Korky Paul as the winner of the Younger Children award.

After the audience’s drum rolling and the party-blowers had finally ceased, we did it all over again for the Younger Readers category. Stagecoach returned to show their interpretations of Gangsta Granny (complete with plastic rain bonnets), Operation Eiffel Tower and The World of Norm: May Contain Nuts. David Walliams, Elen Caldecott, Jonathan Meres and Donough O’Malley then took their places to find out the winner. Walliams even entertained the audience with a hilarious reading from Gangsta Granny before being presented with the top prize for Younger Readers category from fellow award-winning young adult author Elizabeth Laird. As James managed to quieten the excitement once again, Stagecoach ended their fascinating performance with their mini re-enactments of the gripping Medusa Project: Hit Squad , the brilliantly uplifting Eight Keys, and finally the very alien world in the Power of Six. Having to keep his whereabouts absolutely unknown, Pittacus Lore sent his answers via a secret recording which was played to the audience while previous winner Sophie McKenzie, and Suzanne LaFleur, who flew all the way from Boston to attend, awaited on stage to find out who was to win the Older Readers category.

Last year’s winner Patrick Ness rejoined the celebrations to announce the Older Readers winners as Sophie McKenzie. Patrick was then given the honour of announcing the much-anticipated Overall Winner, which saw him bring back his silver tree trophy (which had taken pride of place in his bathroom for the past year!) and also drop the occasional swear word – by accident of course, as he recalled the subtle language differences between the UK and that which is spoken over the pond. After each author or author/illustrator duo had expressed the importance of this award, in huge part because it is voted for by children, everyone who had taken part in this eventful day knew just how much this prestigious prize would mean to whoever received it. Cue the drum roll… as children and grown-ups stomped their feet and got ready for a riotous applause, Patrick Ness announced that Spooky, Spooky House was this year’s overall winner and he gracefully handed over the beautiful trophy to Andrew Weale and Lee Wildish who expressed how grateful they were to not just each other (!) and the children who had voted for their book, but also all avid young readers and bookworms that make all their wonderful jobs possible.

A triumphant way to celebrate the whole atmosphere that the fantastic Imagine Children’s Festival has stood for over the past two weeks. Children left excited and inspired, many with books in their hands, after seeing plenty of their heroes and heroines from the world of literature in action. We can’t wait to see what next year has in store and we hope even more visitors will grace Southbank Centre to get creative, get imaginative and get involved! Share this: by admin under Events , Inside the Book People , The World of Books Whether you’re a fan of David Walliams because he is an excellent comedian, because he’s a treasured scriptwriter for hit shows like Little Britain, because he’s an entertaining judge on Britain’s Got Talent, because he heroically swam the Thames or because he is one of the best loved children’s authors of our time, it seems that everyone has a reason to love David Walliams. I was fortunate enough to get a (somewhat golden) ticket to David’s much-anticipated Ratburger event at Imagine Children’s Festival . The Queen Elizabeth Hall was electric with families eagerly waiting to see the much-loved star who has become an adored and respected household name up and down the country in recent years.

Daybreak’s Kate Garraway hosted the sold-out event and interviewed the incredible author as the children and adults in the audience listened attentively to his honest, entertaining and often hilarious answers. The classic ‘where do you get your inspiration from’ question was answered brilliantly as Walliams discussed some the people and memories that lead to the creation of his characters and novels. Including Mr Stink (who reminds him of a memorable French teacher with an unfortunate odour), elements in Gangsta Granny (his own grandmother’s cabbage-smelling house and her animation as she told him vivid tales of the Blitz) and the villainous Bert in Ratburger (who stemmed from a rather shady live-cockroach-eating auditioner from Britain’s Got Talent). Walliams shared a wonderful insight into his life, his experiences growing-up, his ideas and his passion for literature, as a child and as an adult. As many may already know, Walliams was heavily influenced by the legendary author Roald Dahl, and he mentioned The Twits as one of his favourite books, as well as George’s Marvellous Medicine – in part due to its unique pictures and how they are used to tell parts of the story.

Walliams uses similar techniques in his own novels and praised Quentin Blake and Tony Ross for translating his own words so brilliantly and creating illustrations that complement his writing so, well, marvellously! David then took to the podium to read an exciting and comical extract from the bestselling Ratburger, which had everyone in the audience absolutely enthralled and giggling aloud throughout. Walliams took on the gruff and gross persona of rat catcher Bert, the story’s lovable heroine Zoe, and her inattentive and screeching stepmother Sheila, as he animatedly and engagingly read the tale aloud. This was sure to make anyone who didn’t own the book already rush to the foyer to buy a copy immediately. Children were then thrilled to have the chance to ask the star their very own questions. Cue kids wildly waving and leaping from their seats as they battled for the chance to speak to Walliams and receive a highly-desired goodie bag!

Walliams told the children all about his encounter with the eccentric Sir Michael Gambon (aka Albus Dumbledore) and his starring role as an Elizabethan queen in a school play at age 10, where he realised for the first time how much he enjoyed making other people laugh, amongst the many wild and witty replies he entertained us with. Everyone was very gleeful to hear that Walliams will indeed be continuing to write novels for children and he also gave us an insight into his new picture book, which sees him write for an even younger audience. He was extremely excited at the challenge of writing a story with talking animals, namely an elephant, who we certainly cannot wait to meet. Charming, comical and an absolute pleasure to watch live, every child and adult in the audience were delighted to have had the chance to see the star in action. His approach to children’s literature is refreshing, not just in his written word but also in his discussion. Kids would have undoubtedly left the Southbank feeling totally inspired to pick up a pen, open a new book, or even take to the stage themselves after seeing their hero speak so vibrantly and encouragingly about the options open to them.

The event wonderfully embodied the whole ethos of Imagine Children’s Festival – creative, fun, and above all, all about the kids. Although I’m sure that all the grown-ups left the theatre and joined the mammoth signing queue just as enthusiastically as the little ones they accompanied. A thrilling event from start to finish, without a rodent in sight or foul smell lurking anywhere! Share this: by Ryan Barham under Awards and Prizes , Events , The World of Books The countdown is on and there’s only 3 days left for children to vote for their favourite book from the past twelve months to win the Red House Children’s Book Award 2013 . A prestigious prize in the literary industry, and the only national book award that is voted for entirely by children, the 2013 shortlist may well be the strongest yet. The winner will be announced during a magnificent awards ceremony at London Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, during the final weekend of this year’s Imagine Children’s Festival . The Books for Younger Children category sees a range of animals, including snakes, aliens, monsters and dogs all vying for the top prize. Sam Usher’s Can You See Sassoon?

features a lovable snake who just likes to hide and the search-and-find pages have delighted toddlers, while Dog Loves Drawing is a charming tale from Louise Yates all about a little dog who discovers a passion for art. Written by Andrew Weale and illustrated by Lee Wildish, Spooky, Spooky House is packed with petrifying pop-ups and a spooky surprise on the last page and Welcome to Alien School is a wacky tale from Caryl Hart and Ed Eaves all about Albie, a boy who takes a crazy journey through space – meeting a number of crazy aliens along the way. The Books for Younger Readers category features three wonderful fiction titles. David Walliams’ Gangsta Granny further established the popular comedian as the modern day Roald Dahl, and Jonathan Meares’ The World of Norm: May Contain Nuts is an exceptionally funny read similar in style to Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Laced with humour, Elen Caldecott’s Operation Eiffel Tower is a touching and poignant story about a family on the verge of breaking up, and the children’s plan to get their parents back together with a trip to Paris – even though they have no money… The Books for Older Readers category sees heartfelt reads, action-packed thrillers and stylish sci-fi all acknowledged. Suzanne LaFleur’s Eight Keys is a sympathetic and reassuring story that brings to mind Jacqueline Wilson, while Sophie McKenzie will be hoping to repeat her 2009 Red House Children’s Book Award triumph for Girl, Winning with The Medusa Project: Hit Squad . Just as gripping is Pittacus Lore’s The Power of Six , the follow-up to the bestselling I Am Number Four. If your child wants to vote for their favourite, head over to the Red House Children’s Book Award site before 27 January and get them to pick their favourites from each category. Part of Imagine Children’s Festival and hosted by James Campbell, the Red House Children’s Book Award ceremony takes place at 2.30pm on Saturday 23 February at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London’s Southbank Centre.

You can buy tickets to the Awards Ceremony, and other events taking place at the festival here . Share this: David Walliams’ best-selling book Gangsta Granny coming to the Sunderland stage - Sunderland Echo David Walliams’ best-selling book Gangsta Granny coming to the Sunderland stage David Walliams' Gangsta Granny is coming to the stage at the Sunderland Empire. Vicki Newman A children’s book written by comedian David Walliams is coming to the stage in Sunderland. Gangsta Granny has been given a theatre makeover and is heading for the Sunderland Empire next year. David Walliams' Gangsta Granny is coming to the stage at the Sunderland Empire. The show has been transformed by Birmingham Stage Company, the people behind acclaimed productions of Horrible Histories, George’s Marvellous Medicine and Tom’s Midnight Garden. Gangsta Granny will come to the Empire, in High Street West, from May 10 to 14, prior to a West End run. Walliams, who is one of the judges on the popular Britain’s Got Talent TV show and creator of the ground-breaking comedy series, Little Britain, is now the best-selling author for children in the country.

He began his publishing career at Harper Collins in early 2008 with his debut novel The Boy in the Dress. Then, after writing two other popular stories, in 2011 he published Gangsta Granny, which was shortlisted for both The Red House Children’s Book Award and for the Roald Dahl Funny Prize. David Walliams' Gangsta Granny is coming to the stage at the Sunderland Empire. At Christmas 2013, a TV version of Gangsta Granny was shown on BBC One with an all-star cast including Walliams himself. Gangsta Granny went straight to number one in the children’s book charts and his books have been translated into around 30 languages. In the book, it’s Friday night and Ben knows that means only one thing – staying with Granny. There will be cabbage soup, cabbage pie and cabbage cake and Ben knows one thing for sure – it’s going to be so boring. But what Ben doesn’t know is that Granny has a secret – and Friday nights are about to get more exciting than he could ever imagine, as he embarks on the adventure of a lifetime with his very own Gangsta Granny.

Tickets go on sale at 10am on Friday, July 22 to ATG TheatreCard holders, and on general sale at 10am on Monday, July 25. Sign in David Walliams overtakes JK Rowling among readers in UK schools | Books | The Guardian David Walliams overtakes JK Rowling among readers in UK schools Gangsta Grannies are now beating Harry Potter at the library issue desk, research shows Laughing all the way to the library … David Walliams. Photograph: Murdo Macleod Tuesday 4 March 2014 19.01 EST First published on Tuesday 4 March 2014 19.01 EST Share on Messenger Close With tales of Gangsta Grannies and Demon Dentists, the comedian David Walliams has overtaken JK Rowling and War Horse author Michael Morpurgo to become one of the most-read authors in the UK's schools. The Little Britain actor launched his career in children's books in 2008, and has now written seven titles for children, including Mr Stink ("Mr Stink stank. He also stunk.

And if it was correct English to say he stinked, then he stinked as well…"), The Boy in the Dress and Ratburger. His books regularly top charts, with Gangsta Granny selling more than 300,000 copies in hardback, and now, according to the biggest annual survey of children's reading habits, which this year interviewed 426,000 children in more than 2,000 UK schools, Walliams has become the fifth most read writer in UK schools. This is the first time Walliams has entered the "most read" chart. He comes in behind Horrid Henry creator Francesca Simon, in fourth, young children's author Roderick Hunt in third, Roald Dahl in second and Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney in first place. This is Kinney's first year as the single most read author in UK schools; last year he and Dahl were in joint first place, but this year Kinney has knocked the much-loved late British author off the top spot, held by Dahl every year since the report was launched in 2009.

This is a "remarkable achievement considering Jeff Kinney's relatively small number of books published compared to Roald Dahl," said the What Kids Are Reading report. Hunger Games novelist Suzanne Collins is in fourth place, Rowling, Julia Donaldson and Morpurgo in joint seventh, and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas author John Boyne, and Owl Babies author Martin Waddell, in joint 10th. The sixth What Kids Are Reading report , published today by Renaissance Learning, also claims there is "serious under challenge" when it comes to reading choices in secondary schools, and this is a "matter for alarm", according to the author of the report, Professor Keith Topping. While in primary school, the difficulty of books read by children is "on the rise" compared with last year, but by year seven, "children are choosing books at six months below their chronological age and from then on, reading difficulty plateaus or declines", says the report. "Year six is the last year when children are reading more or less at their natural reading age." This is particularly evident when it comes to non-fiction, with primary school children reading books dominated by animal themes, but sport and football largely taking over by year eight, says the report.

"Non-fiction difficulty levels decline significantly in secondary school. This is a genre favoured particularly by boys and where pupils would benefit from strong guidance to ensure a suitable level of challenge," says the report. "By Year 8, sport and football have almost completely taken over the non-fiction charts, with 15 titles based on sports and seven of those dedicated to football or football stars. These titles are appealing to older boys but they are not sufficiently challenging for their level of ability, and the quizzing results also indicate that they are not necessarily reading these books with any great accuracy." "There is a marked downturn in the difficulty of books at secondary transfer and this does not necessarily reflect a lack of ability to read more difficult texts. The results seem to point to under challenge at either end of the spectrum, both for struggling readers and high-ability readers," said Topping. "Are we to believe that their ability has suddenly declined? – clearly not … It seems that secondary teachers and librarians are not encouraging students to attack more difficult books to a sufficient degree." Boys and girls, meanwhile, are now performing "equally well", said the report, "with no discernible gender difference in an area which has traditionally been a female stronghold".

Most read authors for all children between years 1 and 11 1 Jeff Kinney (last year: joint 1st ) 2 Roald Dahl (last year: joint 1st) 3 Roderick Hunt (last year: 2nd) 4 Francesca Simon (last year: 3rd) 5 David Walliams (new entry) 6 Suzanne Collins (last year: 4th) 7 JK Rowling (5th), Julia Donaldson (9th), Michael Morpurgo (6th) 10 John Boyne (new entry), Martin Waddell (8th) David Walliams says letters from young fans of his children's books have been stolen - ITV News 17 April 2016 at 2:47pm David Walliams says letters from young fans of his children's books have been stolen Letters written by fans of David Walliam's children's books have been stolen. Credit: PA Letters written to comedian David Walliams by young fans of his children's books have been stolen. The Britain's Got Talent judge told his 1.6 million Twitter followers that a "large box of letters from children" was among post that had been stolen.

He apologised to his fans who have not received a reply adding that he tries to reply to everyone. Walliams has written six books for children including the with Demon Dentist, Ratburger and Gangsta Granny which all became best-sellers. His seventh book is due to be released in November, according to HarperCollins. A police spokesperson said that discarded items of post had been reported to them by a member of the public. No arrests have been made. Police in Camden were called on April 8 by a member of the public who had found a number of discarded items of post. Officers are in the process of contacting the intended recipients and inquiries are under way to establish whether an offence has been committed. Inquiries continue. – Metropolitan Police spokesperson David Walliams: Stolen letters from young book fans have been returned - BT David Walliams: Stolen letters from young book fans have been returned And he’s replied to every single one of them! Print this story Comedian David Walliams said stolen letters sent to him by young fans of his children’s books have been returned by police.

The Britain’s Got Talent judge and author revealed on Twitter on Sunday that his post, including “a large box of letters from children” from publisher HarperCollins, had been taken by thieves, and he apologised to those who had not received a reply from him. David Walliams revealed stolen letters from fans of his children’s books had been returned (Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA) But on Thursday, he tweeted to say they had been returned. The @metpoliceuk kindly returned a number of children's letters to me that had been stolen in December & I have now replied to them all. — David Walliams (@davidwalliams) April 21, 2016 David has written eight books for HarperCollins, with Demon Dentist, Ratburger and Gangsta Granny all becoming children’s best-sellers. Billionaire Boy, The Boy In The Dress, Gangsta Granny and Mr Stink were all turned into TV adaptations that have been highlights of the Christmas TV schedule for families in recent years. According to his publisher’s website, his next book is due for release in November. The Little Britain star, 44, announced last week that Scotland Yard had informed him of the crime.

The @metpoliceuk just told me my post was stolen, including a large box of letters from children that had been sent via @HarperCollins (1) Children's Book Authors | Dymocks.com.au Alison Lester Alison Lester is one of Australia's most popular authors. She has written and illustrated over 25 picture books, and her first fiction title,The Quicksand Pony, quickly became a bestseller. Her books are published in many languages and are loved by children around the world. Alison's sure sense of colour and design, her humour, and her keen observation of the details of children's lives make her books lasting favourites. Andy Griffiths Andy Griffiths is one of Australia’s most popular children’s authors. He has written more than 20 books, including nonsense verse, short stories, comic novels and plays. Over the last 15 years Andy’s books have been New York Times bestsellers, won more than 50 children’s choice awards, been adapted as a television cartoon series and sold more than 5 million copies worldwide. Andy is best known as the author of the much-loved Just! series and The Day My Bum Went Psycho.

In 2008 he became the first Australian author to win six children’s choice awards in one year for Just Shocking!, smashing his previous record of four awards for The Bad Book in 2005. Anh Do One of Australia's most recognisable comedians from the big screen to the best selling book The Happiest Refugee (winner of 2011 Indie Book of the Year Award and the 2011 Dymocks Book of the Year Award) Anh is one of the most in demand speakers and comedians for corporate events across Australia. After treading the boards on the comedy circuit and bagging all the comedy awards around town including the Sydney Comedian of the Year Anh Do is an accomplished writer actor producer and of course stand-up comedian. Seen on TV shows that feature comedians including Thank God You're Here, Rove Live, The Matty Johns Show, The Footy Show, Spicks and Specks, Seachange, Good News Week and All Saints. Beatrix Potter Beatrix Potter was born in London in 1866. During her rather lonely childhood and later, as a young woman, she studied art and natural history.

She acquired her love and knowledge of the countryside during family holidays, at first in Scotland and then in the Lake District. She started her career as children's author and illustrator in 1901 when she was thirty-five. In the years before the First World War, demand for her work was so great that she was publishing an average of two new stories a year. As she became financially independent, she was able to buy some land in the Lake District and in 1913, on her marriage to solicitor William Heelis, she moved to live there permanently. For the last thirty years of her life, writing and illustrating gave place to a second career as a sheep farmer and countryside conservationist. Daisy Meadows Daisy Meadows is the pseudonym used for the four writers of the Rainbow Magic children's series: Narinder Dhami, Sue Bentley, Linda Chapman, and Sue Mongredien. Rainbow Magic features differing groups of fairies as main characters, including the Jewel fairies, Weather fairies, Pet fairies, Petal fairies, and Sporty fairies. David Walliams Since beginning his publishing career in 2008, David Walliams has taken the children's literary world by storm.

His sixth book Demon Dentist was published in September 2013 and went straight to number one in the bestseller charts. Previous bestsellers Ratburger and Gangsta Granny were also immediate number one hits, and the paperback of Gangsta Granny dominated the UK charts in 2013, remaining at number one for a colossal 22 weeks. Derek Landy Derek Landy spends his time complaining about blogs and writing the Skulduggery Pleasant series- which includes “Skulduggery Pleasant”, known as “Scepter of the Ancients” in the US, “Playing With Fire”, “The Faceless Ones”, "Dark Days" and "Mortal Coil". He doesn’t like to brag about all the awards he’s won, such as the Irish Book of the Decade, or the Red House in the UK, or all the other awards that he humbly displays on his mantelpiece. He is also far too modest to mention things like the first book being a Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of the Year, but would like to extend an invitation to Oprah to pop around one day for tea, in thanks for selecting his book for the Oprah’s Book Club Kids Reading List.

Emily Rodda Emily Rodda (pen name of Jennifer Row) grew up with her two younger brothers on Sydney's North Shore and graduated from the University of Sydney in 1973 with an MA (Hons) in English Literature. Always an avid reader, she moved naturally into a career in publishing, first as a book editor, and finally as a publisher at Angus & Robertson. Emily Rodda’s first book, Something Special, was published in 1984. It marked the beginning of a career that has seen her become one of the most successful, prolific and versatile writers in Australia. She has written or co-authored well over fifty books for children, and as Jennifer Rowe (her real name) she writes popular mystery novels for adults Enid Blyton Enid Blyton was British writer for children’s books born on 11th August 1897. Enids love for writing had surfaced from the beginning of her childhood. Although her mother never approved of her writing and thought it was a mere waste of time her father encouraged his daughter to take part in all such activities. Enid gained confidence and started sending her work to different magazine.

Finally her efforts paid off and her poem named ‘Have you?’ was published for the first time in Nash’s magazine. Geronimo Stilton Geronimo Stilton runs The Rodent's Gazette, the most famouse newspaper on Mouse Island. His true passion is to write books, which all became bestsellers! He also likes to read books, listen to classical music, and play golf, and he collects antique cheese rinds. He adores his work and his family, but he hates to travel – he can be a real scaredy mouse, and gets airsick, seasick, and carsick. Nonetheless, he often ends up on adventures with his friends and family all across the globe! Graeme Base Graeme Base is one of the world's leading creators of picture books. His alphabet book Animalia, received international acclaim when it was first published in 1986, and has achieved classic status with worldwide sales approaching three million copies. It has now inspired an animated TV series.

Other favourites by Graeme Base include The Eleventh Hour, My Grandma Lived in Gooligulch, The Sign of the Seahorse, The Discovery of Dragons, The Worst Band in the Universe,The Waterhole (and The Waterhole Board Book), Jungle Drums and Uno's Garden. In 2007 this last title featured in six major awards and was winner of three: Speech Pathology Book of the Year, younger readers; The Green Earth Book, USA; The Wilderness Society Environment Award. J K Rowling Joanne Rowling, born 31 July 1965 writes under the pen names J. K. Rowling and Robert Galbraith, is a British novelist best known as the author of the Harry Potter fantasy series. The Harry Potter books have gained worldwide attention, won multiple awards, and sold more than 400 million copies. They have become the best-selling book series in history and been the basis for a series of films which became the highest-grossing film series in history. Jacqueline Harvey Jacqueline Harvey's bestselling Alice-Miranda series began as an idea for a picture book but it soon became apparent that this perpetually positive seven-and-a-quarter-year-old had a lot more to say.

The series has been sold to the United States, United Kingdom, Indonesia and Turkey and has been shortlisted for children's book awards in Australia. Her first and only picture book, The Sound of the Sea was an Honour Book in the 2006 Children's Book Council Awards. Jeff Kinney In 1998 Jeff came up with the idea for Diary of a Wimpy Kid, a story about a middle-school weakling named Greg Heffley. Jeff worked on his book for almost eight years before showing it to a publisher in New York. Jeff Kinney was born in 1971 in Maryland and attended the University of Maryland in the early 1990s. It was there that Jeff ran a comic strip called “Igdoof” in the campus newspaper, and he knew he wanted to be a cartoonist. However, Jeff was not successful in getting his comic strip syndicated after college, and in 1998 he started writing down ideas for Diary of a Wimpy Kid, which he hoped to turn into a book. Jeff worked on the book for six years before publishing it online on Funbrain.com in daily installments.

To date, the online version of Diary of a Wimpy Kid has more than 80 million visits, and is typically read by more than 70,000 kids a day. John Marsden John Marsden was born in Victoria, Australia in 1950. He went to many different primary schools, and from an early age enjoyed the journeys into magical worlds that reading could provide. His teachers in Grade 4 and Grade 6 encouraged him to write, and at the age of nine he decided he wanted to become an author. For seven years he attended The King's School Parramatta, a strict military school in Sydney, and from there went on to the University of Sydney. However, he soon decided that a career in law looked too boring, so he dropped out and drifted around for nearly 10 years, trying different jobs, and earning just enough money to support himself. Julia Donaldson Julia Donaldson was born in 1948. She grew up in London and studied Drama and French at Bristol University. She worked for a few years in publishing and as a teacher, while also writing and performing songs and street theatre with her husband Malcolm, and writing and directing two musicals for children.

She then combined a career writing songs for children’s television with bringing up a family. In 1993, one of her songs was made into a book, A Squash and a Squeeze. Since then she has written over a hundred books and plays for children and teenagers, including the award-winning rhyming stories The Gruffalo,Room on the Broom, The Snail and the Whale and Zog, all illustrated by Axel Scheffler, which are among the UK’s best-selling picture books. Lemony Snicket Due to the world-wide web of conspiracy which surrounds him, Mr. Snicket often communicates with the general public through his representative, Daniel Handler. Mr. Handler has had a relatively uneventful life, and is the author of three books for adults, The Basic Eight, Watch Your Mouth, and Adverbs, none of which are anywhere near as dreadful as Mr. Snicket's. Like Mr. Snicket, Mr. Handler wishes you nothing but the best. Mem Fox Mem Fox is a retired Associate Professor of Literacy Studies (Flinders University, South Australia), and also Australia’s most highly regarded picture-book author. Her first publication, Possum Magic, is the best selling children’s book in Australia.

It is thirty years old this year (2013) and is still available in hard-back. She has written many other internationally best-selling books for children including Time for Bed, Where Is The Green Sheep? and Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes, a copy of which was Australia’s official gift to Prince George, the new royal baby. Mem has also written several non-fiction books for adults, including her renowned book for parents: Reading Magic.Her books have been translated into nineteen languages. She has received many civic honours and awards, and three honorary doctorates. She lives in Adelaide, South Australia, but leaps around a bit as an advocate for literacy and literature. Meredith Badger Meredith Badger is the author of Fairy School Dropout, Fairy School Dropout Undercover, and the first book of a new series, Tweenie Genie: Genie in Training. Originally from Australia, Meredith now lives in Germany with her family. She is also a writer for the Go Girl! series. Nick Bland Nick was born on a farm in Victoria 's Yarra Valley in 1973. The son of an artist and a primary school teacher, he spent his early childhood climbing haystacks and making mischief in his father's studio.

When he moved to 'the bush' at age 6, he discovered a wonderful new world and his creativity bloomed. Nick always told family and friends he was going to be a cartoonist and a writer. It wasn't until 1996, when he stumbled into a bookshop job, that he finally found the medium that would bring those two loves together. Pamela Allen Pamela Allen is a phenomenon in the world of children's literature. For almost thirty years her picture books have enchanted generations of children in Australia and overseas and many of her titles have won prestigious awards and commendations. She has earned classic status through the enduring popularity of her stories with the very young. Paul Jennings I was born in England on 30 April 1943 — it was still wartime. We lived in a place called Heston, near London. I can remember that there was an airport over the road. When I was six I left England, with my parents and my little sister Ruth, to come and live in Australia. That was in 1949. In those days, people came to Australia by boat. The one we came on was called the Ranchi. We sailed for five weeks before arriving in Melbourne.

Roald Dahl When he was at school Roald Dahl received terrible reports for his writing - with one teacher actually writing in his report, 'I have never met a boy who so persistently writes the exact opposite of what he means. He seems incapable of marshalling his thoughts on paper!' After finishing school Roald Dahl, in search of adventure, travelled to East Africa to work for a company called Shell. In Africa he learnt to speak Swahili, drove from diamond mines to gold mines, and survived a bout of malaria where his temperature reached 105.5 degrees (that's very high!). Roland Harvey Roland Harvey was born in Melbourne and has always loved drawing. He trained as an architect but is best-known for his distinctive books, calendars and greeting cards. Roland enjoys watching people at work and at play, mentally sketching them while they go about their business. He has always loved the outdoors and some of the scenes from At the Beach and In the Bush are from real life – Roland really did make kelp sandals (like the ones in At the Beach) for his son, James! Ruth Park Born in New Zealand in 1917, Ruth spent most of her adult life in Australia.

She was widely read and well-loved for her books which were as equally successful for adults as for children. Ruth was catapulted into fame when she won the inaugural Sydney Morning Herald Literary Competition in 1946, with her novel The Harp in the South. This book has never been out of print. Her literary reputation grew as she honed her craft, writing fiction and non-fiction, winning a variety of awards and much acclaim. Her output of work spanned nearly seven decades. Sally Rippin Our family moved around a lot when I was young because of my father’s work. As a child I lived in Brunei, Singapore, England, Perth, Adelaide and Hong Kong. I finished my secondary studies in Melbourne then moved to Shanghai to stay with my father who was living there. Art and English had been my favourite subjects at school so my father signed me up to do a Chinese Painting class at the Shanghai Institute of Fine Art. I loved it so much that I ended up staying for three years, moving to the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Art for the last two.

Tiffiny Hall Author, 5th Dan Taekwondo black belt and Logie nominated television personality - Tiffiny has many titles tucked under her black belt. Tiffiny has a Bachelor of Arts/Media and Communications and Diploma of Modern Languages (French) from the University of Melbourne, Certificate III & IV in Fitness and a Diploma of Sport (coaching) with a specialisation in martial arts.

Question: Which comedian has written several children’s books including Gangsta Granny?
Answer: David Walliams